I like finding unexpected things. While exploring Courtenay, British Columbia, I found myself in a part of the city I had apparently never seen before. I have memories of places and stores just a few blocks away though.
In 1912, work began and land was being cleared in order to make room for a roundhouse, machine shops, and a station, as part of a stop on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway.
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| Courtesy of the Courtenay & District Museum |
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| Courtesy of the Courtenay & District Museum |
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| Courtesy of the Courtenay & District Museum |
The Courtenay Train Station was completed in 1914 and the first passenger train arrived on August 6, 1914. The line was to continue north to Campbell River. However, World War I put a stop to all future plans. As the war ended, highways and trucking services had improved and this became the end of the line.
Though this was the end of the line, it was still an important part of life in Courtenay. Passengers, mail, farm equipment, trucks, and sometimes livestock arrived by passenger and freight trains. Trains here would use the wye (Y), instead of the more common roundhouse, just past the station to turn around and head back south towards Victoria.
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| 2009 Prior to closure. Photo from Wikipedia |
The station was given heritage status by the City of Courtenay on 2002 and when it closed permanently in 2011 it was the Northern Terminus for the Dayliner service by Via Rail.
It appears that in 2014 a deal was signed (but not ratified) to restore passenger rail service which included money earmarked for improving track safety, replacing deteriorating wooden ties, steel repairs, and bridge upgrades. There was another news article from 2022 involving one of the same groups from 2014, still seeking government support and funding to restore passenger and freight serivce.
As of August 2023 the station is still boarded up and the tracks are overgrown.
- https://www.courtenay.ca/EN/main/community/heritage/architecture/courtenay-train-station.html
- https://www.courtenaymuseum.ca/courtenay-e-n-railway-stations-100th-anniversary/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtenay_station
- https://www.islandrail.ca/deal-signed-to-resume-e-boards-need-to-ratify/
- https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/foundation-makes-case-for-431-million-island-rail-service-for-passengers-and-freight-5385573
